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The other night I wandered down to the Grasslands. It was my first time there. Great venue and great lineup. My co-worker’s band– Tayisha Busay — hands down stole the show with their amped-up adrenaline inciting, catchy audience participation dance numbers. Stellar live act:

And the room is left buzzing. High on clean, high energy, glittery fun.

My lens immortalizes the young faces in Glory Bowen’s adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, which she also directs. Showing now! More info here.

In mid-march, Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage. When I learned that my trip there coincided with an enormous pride march followed by a group marriage, I decided to congratulate the happy new couples with complimentary portraits commemorating the occasion. But access to the couples was near impossible. I knew the event was going to be huge, but so did the Mexican media and police. The couples had a long list of interviews scheduled and were behind barricades. Instead, my assistants sifted through the throngs to locate folks to pose for me. Thanks to Israel Ortiz and Enrique Arellano for their diligence and to my lovely traveling companion, fiancée and sometimes assistant, Denise for the behind the scenes footage:

Another clip. Watch it twice:

So much fun in 8 seconds. I like best the clownish exclamation and the smiles of the looker-ons.

Some images for Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, adapted for the stage and directed by Glory Bowen. The show runs in June. More info here: www.planetconnectionsfestivity.com.

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Actors pictured L to R: Allison Hirschlag, Eric Percival, Adam Barrie, Walter Brandes

In March, I had the great pleasure of photographing the weeklong Mexican destination wedding celebration of my good friend Kelly and her new man, Todd. Congratulations to the handsome couple. Below are a few of my favorites.

This weekend I had the pleasure of photographing my good friend Tim:

Alex_MASS. or The Impetus of Travel:

Alex flew to NYC to interview Manglano-Ovalle. We travelled to North Adams, MA to see his installation.

Obligatory Rauch vs. Gravity:

Pursuit of Fading Light in Repurposed Factory Town:

Hillside Cemetery – North Adams, Massachusetts

MASS MoCA:  A Repurposed Factory in a Repurposed Factory Town.

I never intentionally set out to join the raucous dance party thrown by the CPDSA but in the waning hours of summer sunlight, when I am lucky enough to be strolling through Central Park, I am often drawn to the crowd gathered just west of the mall. Once immersed in their contagious uninhibited celebration, I can’t help but dance along. This respite from the stifling, hoighty toighty Manhattan club scenes is analogous to the magic of Shakespeare’s fantastical comedy.

Cheers Central Park Dance Skaters Association. Keep on keepin’ in surreal:

On Christmas Day, 1776, George Washington crossed the Delaware in a skiff to attack British Forces stationed in New Jersey. On October 24th, 2009 Denise and I crossed over the Delaware in a China Town bus on an equally important mission. To see Andrew Bird live in concert. You know, because our forefathers fought for independence from oppressive powers so that I could spend eight dollars for a crappy lager in a plastic cup.

We spent the dry, chilly afternoon wandering about historic downtown Philadelphia, admiring the old brick buildings and ruminating on the Revolution and Rocky.

I learned before departing New York that the concert venue prohibited cameras, so I took my more discreet and relatively unprofessional looking camera–the Agfa Isolette IV. It is a medium format folding camera. These are great compact cameras, but most of them have pinhole leaks in the bellows. As mine does:

I revel in the chance to take photos that I know will be “flawed” from the start. It is my invitation to collaborate with chaos. Diane Arbus once said “I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.”

I completely agree with this statement, and when I’m shooting with the Agfa Isolette, they are not only usually better than I intended, they help me to see in a way that my conscious mind would not have allowed.

As Arbus remarks, “It’s important to take bad pictures. It’s the bad ones that have to do with what you’ve never done before. They can make you recognize something you hadn’t seen in a way that will make you recognize it when you see it again”

The willingness to fail promotes discovery or ‘happy accidents’. I would not have consciously endeavored to fill this somewhat benign photograph of The Ben Franklin Bridge with light leaks, but I was a conspirer in the deed by using a faulty camera. Having identified this light leak as a potential tool in my future compositions, I have invited failure to teach me something about my craft.

–CONCLUSION–

I was going to tie all this into the notion of discovery and relate it to the namesake of the bridge in the photo, but I really just want to share this instead: